Four old fire engines arrived from England to Transylvania after being donated by the Shropshire fire service, according to the BBC. The fire engines were due for retirement, but at between 13 and 20 years old they are more modern than the 50s and 60s vehicles still in use in Transylvania. The English fire engines are smaller and nippier than the old Romanian engines, which will make the narrow streets of the Saxon villages easier to negotiate.

The scheme was organized by the Mihai Eminescu Trust, which works to preserve the medieval villages of Transylvania and has heir to the British throne Prince Charles as a patron. The people of Shropshire county also raised GBP 11,000 to help send the engines over to Romania. Ten firemen from the Shropshire fire service drove more than 2,700 kilometers to arrive in Romania.

It's not the first time Shropshire county has donated fire engines to Eastern Europe, 11 have previously been sent to the region in the last five years.

Read the BBC article.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Shropshire fire service)